Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason to make Edinburgh International Festival debut

Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Cellist and BBC Young Musician 2016 winner, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, is to make his Edinburgh International Festival debut on Friday 17 August with a performance of Elgar’s Cello Concerto.

Performing with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ludovic Morlot at the Usher Hall, the concert will mark the cellist’s first appearance at Edinburgh’s world-renowned celebration of culture and his first public performance in Scotland.

Kanneh-Mason, who performed at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, this week became the highest charting cellist in Official Albums Chart history. His chart-topping debut album Inspiration was recorded with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra who he will join forces with once again at his International Festival performance on 17 August. The album, which was released earlier this year on Decca, reached the Top 10 of the main Scottish Album Chart.

One of the brightest young stars on the classical music scene, Kanneh-Mason is already in great demand from major orchestras and concert halls worldwide. He received the 2017 South Bank Sky Arts Breakthrough Award and, from 2018/19, he will become ‘Young Artist in Residence’ at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. In February 2018, Sheku performed ‘Evening of Roses’ at the BAFTA Awards show at the Royal Albert Hall, with four of his six siblings.

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s concert programme at the International Festival also includes Stravinsky’s Funeral Song and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé. For further information and to buy tickets, visit https://www.eif.co.uk/whats-on/2018/cbso

The 2018 Edinburgh International Festival runs from Friday 3 to Monday 27 August, welcoming 2750 artists from 31 nations to perform in Scotland’s capital city. To view the full programme, visit www.eif.co.uk